Conference noted::equitation

1888.0. "Horse tale's" by CSCMA::SMITH () Tue May 17 1994 16:57

I heard the most incredible story from a woman at the Lyons symposium and
I thought you might enjoy it. We were sharing horse type info, how many, what
kind, etc.. She told me she was strictly a quarter horse type person, but 
ended up owning some arabs, and she told me how it came about...

She was at an auction a few years ago and while strolling around out back she 
came upon an arab mare.  The mare was very pretty, very pregnant and 'ear 
tagged' for the meat truck.  She was drawn to her and felt that she had to 
save her.  She asked about buying her but the trucking man told her it was 
too late, once their tagged they go on the truck, no exceptions.  She kept
on him but he just wouldn't budge, he said it wasn't his choice, he just 
couldn't. As the auction was starting to wind down she got desparate. She
decided she would have to steal the mare. 

She positioned her truck close by and opened the doors.  She felt that if 
she brought the mare out during the shuffling when the auction closed, she
might be able to sneak her out.  While she waited she went to the mare to 
make herself familiar to her.  She was very scared, hoping the mare would 
cooperate.  She was nervously talking to the mare telling her, "Now, 
I'm going to bring you out, you must load right away, just get right on,
don't hestitate, it's just a step-up, there's no ramp, just get on ok?..." when
someone in back of her said, "You really want that horse, don't you".  It was
the trucker. He said it was totally illegal but there was another horse which
would definitely be going, it was all torn up and sick.  He could take the tag
off this mare and put it on that one.  She paid him $600, her saddle and
everything else in her truck and took the mare home.  The mare had a big gash
in her leg which had to have stitches, but otherwise she was ok. 

Three days later, the mare had a colt.  Things didn't go well though, it had
a pallet problem and it's milk was going into it's lungs. The vet told her
the only way to save it was to send it to Tufts.  Her friends told her to 
just let it go, after all, she did everything she could, but she felt she'd
made a promise to the mare, and this was her baby, so she couldn't just let it 
die.  So she brought them to Tufts and it just so happened that there was an 
intern specializing in foal pallet problems so they would operate on him free
for experimental reasons.  She still had the mare care to pay for though.
And on the day she when to pay it, they told her it was all set. A man she
had made friends with while waiting around at Tufts had taken care of the bill
after hearing her tell the story. 

A year later, she went to the barn at night during a storm. The lights were
out so she had a flashlight and wanted to check the horses.  When she shined
the light on the mare, she noticed faint letters on her side.  These couldn't
be seen unless the light was held at an angle.  She wrote the numbers down and
called the arabian registry the next day.  They told her the mare was not from
this country, the US doesn't brand on the side. 

From the numbers, she was eventually able to put together the mares whole 
story.  It turned out the mare was from Poland from a famous breeding barn. 
She was brought to this country as a young horse for $600,000. and was a brood
mare all her life. At the end of her breeding life the owner breeds his 
mares one last time and then offers them to people he trusts with the agreement
that they will care for the mare until her natural death in exchange for the 
foal. This mare was given to someone who ran into financial trouble and went
bankrupt. Since he hadn't paid board, the boarding place sent the horse to
auction, to just get back their board money.  The person who brought it didn't
even bother to send it through the auction and just sold it directly to the 
meat man. 

She found out that the foal was sired by one of the best in the US, his stud
fee was $20,000.  The Breeder was greatful that she had saved the horse but
felt that she did not have a perfect foal. He gave her a perfect one with the
agreement that she take care of the mare until her death. So now she has three
arabs, they're probably worth more then everything she has, although he
doesn't give papers on the horses when he gives them away, for tax
purposes. 

This seems so hard to believe when I tell it. I was spellbound, and thanked 
her for such a wonderful story. Ripley's believe it or not! She was very 
sincere, I guess I'd rather believe it than not.

Sharon

    
    
    	wow...
    
    		and doesn't that make me sit back and think about what
    REALLY happens when folks 'give' a horse away.  That is an incredible
    story and a wonderful one.